Using YouTube, Perry proves to be all thumbs

For Gov. Rick Perry, it was supposed to be a simple TV ad aimed at evangelical Christians who dominate the Republican Party’s caucuses in Iowa, nothing more than a “Hail Mary” effort by his campaign to rise from fourth place in the polls.

“You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school,” Perry told the camera with a folksy charm, later adding that he’d stop “Obama’s war on religion.”

The ad started airing Tuesday. By late Thursday, more than 345,000 YouTube users had given the ad a thumbs-down; only 8,000 users said they liked it.

It was mocked by Chicago’s legendary Second City comedy troupe, which put up a parody complaining about wars and economic troubles that heterosexual, god-fearing politicians had gotten the country into.

Meanwhile, images such as the Teletubbies or Richard Simmons digitally added to screen grabs from the ad have proliferated on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.

Political satire blog Wonkette posted an image that compares the clothes Perry wore in the ad to the outfit worn by actor Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar in “Brokeback Mountain.”

For political observers, the social-network-driven, snark-filled response signified a growing generational divide in the political battle over gay rights in the United States.

“There’s been a lot of movement in the last decade on gay rights, in which gay rights is increasingly being seen in the frame of civil rights and human rights, particularly (for) younger voters,” said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

National polling in 2010 showed that three-quarters of Americans supported ending ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ the controversial policy that banned gays from openly serving in the military.

Express-News graphic

It’s not the first time Perry has said something controversial to help excite his conservative base. In 2009, Perry hinted that Texas might just secede because Texans were so upset at the federal government.

The Texas media covered the controversy, but it died down after a few days and Perry benefited politically, Henson said.

“The problem is nationally, that counter-reaction is much larger, much broader and much more powerful. I suspect they underestimated that,” he said.

The Huffington Post reported Wednesday that the Perry campaign’s top pollster said in an email to other senior advisers that it was “nuts” to run the ad, a rare instance of campaign discord becoming public.

With less than a month until the Iowa caucuses, Perry and his campaign have made a series of moves to increase his appeal and profile with evangelical Christian voters, who propelled former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to a surprise win there in 2008.

To Drake University Professor Dennis Goldford, Perry’s discussion of religion is far more important than the ad’s attack on gays.

“This is a Hail Mary, but I don’t know if there’s anyone in the end zone,” Goldford said.

He said he doubts the ad will have much impact because it doesn’t change the narrative created from Perry’s debate performances, that he’s bumbling and incompetent.

Robert Haus, a co-chairman of Perry’s Iowa campaign, said it was too early to tell if the ad was making a difference, but “I can tell you that we haven’t been awash in any sort of negative feedback.”

Asked about the scorn heaped on the ad in cyberspace, he said it came from “traditional suspects on the other side of the aisle” and that “tolerance (for liberals) is quite a bit of a one-way street.”

In any case, the Perry campaign appears to have learned its lesson: It disabled YouTube’s “like or dislike” function on a new ad released Thursday.

What he says in the ad

The transcript of the 30-second spot, which is titled “Strong”:

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.

“As president, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage.

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[…] Express-News photo illustration … that “tolerance (for liberals) is quite a bit of a one-way street.” In any case, the Perry campaign appears to have learne d YouTube's “like or dislike” function on a new ad released Thursday. Express – News photo illustration. Read more on Houston Chronicle (blog) […]